


like it's our fault we stopped trying to be your friends

by kgmps2



Category: Never Satisfied (Webcomic)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, POV Third Person Limited, Pre-Canon, Unreliable Narrator, it's interesting how she has all these inconsistencies in her behavior that she doesn't even notice, this is pretty short but hey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 17:42:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20492726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kgmps2/pseuds/kgmps2
Summary: They act like they’resomuch better than everyone. You know the type. “Oh I’m so full of myself I’ve got no room foryoupeople.” Just the worst. Y’know, I’ve never even seen them use any magic! I bet it’s as bad as their personality. Everyone else in this contest has been cool except them.





	like it's our fault we stopped trying to be your friends

It was only the first round of the representative competition, but Ana was feeling pretty good about her odds.

She knew not to get _too_ cocky – even though today’s test was much easier than she had expected, she didn’t expect the difficulty to _stay_ at that level. After all, the proctors were all handpicked by the magister herself to ensure _only_ the most qualified candidate was elevated to the position of representative. But even though there _was_ one person who didn’t even make the cut after the first test, Ana felt much better to know that person wasn’t _her_ – that her fear of everyone being massively more qualified than she was, of being publicly humiliated, was unfounded.

She’d felt a spike of that fear when she first showed up, when everyone was gathered around the fountain before the proctor showed. It was clear that everyone here was one of _those_ magicians, the kind who’d had their familiar since they could hold a conversation and whose rich daddy could buy them nearly a dozen emeralds the size of her _eyeball_ to flaunt. The kind who had made it so hard for her abuela…

But then the test had started and all that worry vanished. It was _easy_, and not even deceptively so. Ana excelled at it, of course, but not everyone did – even among those who weren’t eliminated. They’d get picked off in the later rounds, then.

Most everyone stayed behind to chat, when all was said and done. They’d cleared their schedules, after all, and didn’t have much else to do besides talk about the test they’d just done, their expectations for the weeks to come. Ana didn’t mind. She wasn’t the kind of person who thought that having ambition and drive meant you had to be _mean_ to everyone. Sure, she was eventually gonna beat everyone, and some of them would probably be embarrassed. But just because she was here to win didn’t mean she didn’t want to make friends. Besides, most everyone seemed pretty nice.

There was one kid, though, a pink magician with a cat, who caught Ana’s eye. They didn’t stalk off like a couple of the contestants did, but they weren’t joining the group, either. Ana thought back a little – she hadn’t been paying much attention to the others, but she was pretty sure they were one of the kids who was floundering.

Their earrings, in particular, caught her eye. They were shiny, but nearly colorless. Ana remembered her abuela’s stories of saving up, of her false starts with the wrong kind of gems or cheap knockoffs until she finally found the rubies that would let her focus her magic. That quartz, practically clear, wouldn’t do _anything_ for its magician. Ana wondered if maybe the lonely cat magician was in the same boat she’d been in as a child. Extracting herself effortlessly from her current conversation, she went to break the ice.

They didn’t seem to notice her at first – they were looking at the ground when she approached and didn’t look up until she said hello.

“Hi there. I’m Ana.”

“Uh… Lucy.” They tightened their folded arms, looking almost guilty. Ana laughed.

“Hey, it’s okay. I don’t bite.”

“Sure.”

It took more effort than expected to _not_ frown at Lucy. It was just a joke; no need to be so snippy. She continued smiling pleasantly.

“So, how ‘bout that first test, huh?”

Lucy shrugged. “It wasn’t too bad.”

Ana _knew_ that was a lie to save face. She supposed she couldn’t blame them.

“Well. They _are_ gonna get harder. So…”

She wasn’t totally sure how to continue, actually. In her mind, before she even approached Lucy, she had pictured them taking to her, which would make it easier to broach the subject. At the very least they would have admitted to having difficulty with the first test, and she could use that to ease into what she _actually_ wanted to talk about.

Lucy was still watching her, waiting for her to finish. Okay.

“If it ever gets too hot to handle, I’m here for you, y’know? Not all of us can afford expensive tutors or piles of jewelry, so why not stick tog–“

To Ana’s surprise, Lucy recoiled from her like she’d shoved a handful of shit into their face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” they huffed in the middle of her last sentence. “I’m not having _trouble_ and I don’t need _pity_. C’mon, Ivy.”

Without so much as a _nice meeting you_ or _see you next week_, Lucy stormed away. The white cat at their feet followed them, but not before looking thoughtfully at Ana.

Her eyes were baby blue.

_Well, isn’t _that_ interesting_, thought part of Ana, but she was too annoyed to pay it much mind. She rolled her eyes and returned to the group, integrating herself back into the conversation without much problem. So maybe she’d misjudged Lucy. They were probably gonna wipe out in a week or two anyway, judging by their total lack of skill. It didn’t matter, so there was no need to dwell.

Some people could be _so_ unreasonable.

**Author's Note:**

> since Ana's past & her relationships with her family have been coming to light, I've been really interested in why she behaves the way she does. as soon as I read [ch8p28](http://www.neversatisfiedcomic.com/comic/chapter-8-page-28), I started thinking about how, by all accounts, she should sympathize with Lucy over their struggles with magic. this story is my attempt to provide some sort of reasoning for Ana's treatment of Lucy that makes sense to _her_, even if it isn't congruent with reality.


End file.
